Labour Relations Act, 1995 (Act No. 66 of 1995)

Notices

Building Industry Bargaining Council (Cape of Good Hope)

Re-enactment and Amendment of Main Collective Agreement

8. Terms of Employment

No employee shall ordinarily be required to work more than the following hours:

Category

AREA A

AREA B1, B, C AND D

Daily hours

Weekly hours

Daily hours

Weekly hours

(i)

Security guard

9 hours

45 hours

9 hours

45 hours

(ii)

Driver

8 hours

45 minutes

43 hours

45 minutes

9 hours

45 hours

(iii)

General worker, Labourer L1 and Labourer L2

8 hours 30 minutes

42 hours

30 minutes

9 hours

44 hours

(iv)

All other employees

8 hours

40 hours

9 hours

44 hours

(b)

With the exception of security guards, who shall be required to work not more than six consecutive days in any week, ordinary hours shall be worked daily between 7:00 and 19:00, Mondays to Fridays.

(2) Intervals:

(a)

Every employee shall be entitled to daily meal and/or rest intervals totalling not more than 60 minutes, which shall not form part of ordinary working hours, and shall be at such times as agreed on with his employer.

(b)

No employer shall require an employee to work for more than five hours continuously without an interval.

(3)

(a)

Shift work: An employer may require his employees to work shifts: Provided that no employee shall be required to work more than one 8-hour or 12-hour shift in any period of 24 hours.

(b)

Flexible working hours: An employer and an employee may contract to work either a compressed working week or to average the hours of work as provided in sections 11 and 12 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997.

(4)

Overtime:

(a)

All time worked in excess of the number of ordinary working hours in one week shall be overtime, subject to the weekly hours being attained irrespective of when the overtime was worked.

(b)

An employer may request, which request shall not be unreasonably rejected, an employee to work, overtime for a period not exceeding three hours daily, from Mondays to Fridays, and not exceeding eight hours on Saturdays or Sundays: Provided that the maximum number of hours' overtime worked in any week shall not exceed the maximum hours' overtime prescribed in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act: Provided further that an employer and any employee who is required to drive motor vehicles may agree and contract that a maximum of one hour's overtime prior to the commencement or ordinary hours of work and a maximum of one hour's overtime at the conclusion or ordinary hours of work each day be compulsory overtime for the purpose of transporting employees to and from their place of work, subject to the requirement for an employee to transport workers being included in a separate agreement between employer and employee.

(c)

An employee who is engaged in a continuous process of work shall be obliged to work until that process has been completed and shall be paid at overtime rates, if applicable.

(5)

Public holidays: The public holidays proclaimed in terms of the Public Holidays Act, 1994, shall be recognized as paid public holidays if they fall on a normal working day: Provided that the annual holiday payment made by the Council shall be inclusive of payment for all the public holidays that may fall on a normal working day during the three-week annual shutdown.

5A. Notwithstanding anything contained in sub clause (1) to (5) above, security guards are required to work shifts in accordance with the employer's operational requirements: Provided that no security guard shall be required to work more than 13 hours during a night shift and 11 hours during a day shift.

(6)

Annual leave:

(a)

Every employee shall be entitled to 15 working days annual leave during the annual Building Industry shutdown period, the dates of which shall be determined by the Council not later than 30 June every year.

(b)

Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a), an employee may agree with his employer to work during the annual leave period and shall be paid the basic wage laid down in clause 9(1) for any time worked during such period, subject to the employer granting a minimum of 10 working days during the annual shut down period.

(c)

Security guards and other employees who work during the annual leave period shall, by agreement with their employers, be granted leave equal to the period worked during annual shutdown.

(7)

Sick leave: An employee shall be entitled to sick leave in accordance with the provisions of the Sick Pay Fund for the Building Industry and clause 15 of this Agreement, and to payment for the period of such sick leave in terms thereof.

(8)

Termination of contract of employment:

(a)

An employer or employee who intends terminating a contract of employment shall give the other party at least one week's written notice of termination of such contract, which notice shall be given before 12:00 on any working day, and shall commence as from 08:00 on the following working day if such contract has been for up to six months, continuous employment and two weeks written notice if such contract has been for longer than six months' continuous employment.

(b)

Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a), either party shall be entitled to terminate the contract of employment without notice by making payment in lieu of the required notice.

(c)

In the event of an employee's absconding, or not making the appropriate payment in lieu of notice, and where the employer has proven such, the employer shall be entitled to deduct the appropriate notice pay from any moneys due to the employee in terms of the Holiday Fund.

(d)

Nothing in this sub clause shall affect the right of any employer of employee to terminate a contract of employment without notice.

(e)

A contract of employment shall be terminated automatically if an employee is absent from work without the employer's consent for a continuous period of five working days, unless the employee's absence is due to circumstances beyond his control: Provided that the employer shall investigate the absence of the employee and apply fair procedures to determine if the termination is to be made effective.

(9)

Lay-off and suspension:

(a)

An employer shall be entitled to lay off an employee temporarily—

(i)

on account of inclement weather or

(ii)

on account of a shortage of materials, due to circumstances beyond the employer's control: Provided that the employer shall pay the equivalent of two hours' wages for short notice before the lay-off period commences;

(iii)

on account of a temporary shortage of work: Provided that one day's written notice shall be given, and that such notice include the reason for the lay-off and the period of the lay-off: Provided further that the employer shall not be liable to pay the employee any remuneration except as specified above during a lay-off:

(b)

An employee may be laid off for a continuous period not exceeding 20 working days and if at the end of such period the employer wishes to extend the lay-off period for a further 20 working days the employee shall first be given the option of being retrenched in accordance with the procedure laid down in sub clause (10): Provided that if the employee opts for the second period of lay-off of 20 working days the employer shall commence the retrenchment procedure laid down in sub clause (10) not later than 10 working days before the expiry of the second lay‑off period: Provided further that employees shall be entitled to apply for unemployment benefits during the period of lay-off.

(c)

No employer shall unilaterally suspend an employee from work for any period as a disciplinary measure.

(10)

Retrenchment:

(a)

An employer who proposes retrenchment shall, not later than ten working days before the proposed date of notice of the termination of any employee's services, provide any of the trade unions of which, to his knowledge, prospective retrenches may be members, with the following information in writing:

(i)

The number of employees who may be retrenched, together with their names, duration of service, Council Holiday Fund numbers, and job categories;

(ii)

the proposed date of retrenchment;

(iii)

the reasons for the proposed retrenchment, including all alternatives which the employer has considered and the reasons for rejecting them;

(iv)

the proposed selection criteria in respect of retrenchees;

(v)

the proposed date for consultations with the trade union(s) and/or employee(s) likely to be affected;

(vi)

the proposed severance pay; and

(vii)

the employer's proposals for assistance to retrenchees, including the possibility of re‑employment.

(b)

In the event of an employee likely to be affected by the proposed retrenchment not being a union member, the information referred to in paragraph (a) shall be forwarded direct to that employee.

(c)

The trade union(s) and/or the employee(s) shall provide the employer with a written response to its retrenchment proposals by not later than three working days before the proposed date of consultation, which shall include all of its/their proposals in respect of the retrenchment.

(d)

The employer shall attempt to reach consensus with the trade union(s) and/or employee(s) on the retrenchment proposals through consultation: Provided that should consensus not be reached before the expiry of the ten-day period referred to in paragraph (a), the employer shall be entitled to implement its retrenchment proposals.

(e)

The employer shall be entitled to implement its retrenchment proposals at any stage if the trade union(s) and/or employee(s) do not provide written responses or refuse and/or fail to consult with the employer in accordance with this sub clause.

(f)

An employee who is retrenched in terms of this sub clause shall be entitled to severance payment of one week of that employee's current remuneration per completed year of continuous service with his employer.

(11)

Performance standard contracts:

(a)

An employer and an employee may enter into a written performance standard contract subject to agreement being reached at least five working days before the task is to commence.

(b)

Remuneration under a performance standard contract shall not be Jess than the basic wage plus benefits prescribed for the particular category of employee in this Agreement for normal working hours and provided that all statutory provisions for employment contracts, including unemployment insurance, income tax deductions and all provisions of this Agreement shall be observed.

(12)

Probationary period: Any probationary period for a contract of employment shall be dealt with in accordance with the act, and the Code of Good Practice, referred to in Schedule 8 of the Act, before termination of employment is to be made.

(13)

Maternity and family responsibility leave: The provisions of sections 25 and 27 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997, shall apply in the Building Industry.

(14)

Leave for trade union activities: The provisions of section 15 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995, shall apply in the Building Industry.